steamer afloat, and will take a lot of
catching."

"And if the worst comes and she falls into the hands of the enemy, we
must fight our first naval battle and retake her, even if we have to
sink a few cruisers to do so," added Natas; "for, come what may,
Michael must not be captured."

"Arnold will almost certainly come in his flagship, and if she is
what he promised, she should be more than a match for a whole fleet,
so I don't think there is much to fear unless the _Aurania_ gets sunk
before we reach her," said Tremayne.

Natas and his host devoted the rest of the forenoon to their
correspondence, and to making the final arrangements for leaving
Alanmere. Tremayne wrote full instructions to his lawyers for the
drawing up of the deed, and directed them to have it ready for his
signature by two o'clock on the following day. After lunch he rode
over to Knaresborough himself with the post-bag, telegraphed an
abstract of his instructions in advance, and ordered his private
saloon carriage to be attached to the up express which passed through
at eight the next morning.

CHAPTER XXI.

JUST IN TIME.

As the train drew up in King's Cross station at twelve the next day,
almost the first words that Tremayne heard were--

"Special _Pall Mall_, sir! Appearance of the mysterious air-ship over
Plymouth this morning! Great battle in Austria yesterday, defeat of
the Austrians--awful slaughter with war-balloons! Special!"

The boy was selling the papers as fast as he could hand them out to
the eager passengers. Tremayne secured one, shut the door of the
saloon again, and, turning to the middle page, read aloud to Natas--

"We have just received a telegram from our Plymouth correspondent, to
say that soon after daybreak this morning torpedo-boat No. 157
steamed into the Sound, bringing the news that she had sighted a
large five-masted air-ship about ten miles from the coast, when in
company with the cruiser _Ariadne_, whose commander had despatched
her with the news. Hardly had the report been received when the
air-ship herself passed over Mount Edgcumbe and came towards the
town.

"The news spread like wildfire, and in a few minutes the streets were
filled with crowds of people, who had thrown on a few clothes and
rushed out to get a look at the strange visitant. At first it was
thought that an attack on the arsenal was intended by the mysterious
vessel, and the excitement had risen almost to the pitch of panic,